| Abstract: | Under the existing education and training policy framework (1994) and
higher education proclamation (2003, 2009), higher learning institutions
(HLIs) in Ethiopia are born for the people by the people to accomplish
three interrelated core missions of which reaching local and regional
communities and address unmet social, economic, cultural problems via
community service and engagement mission is one. The objective of the
study was to assess the state of the art and the art of the state of serving and
engaging in the community by shifting from ‘knowledge transfer via
graduates’ to ‘knowledge application to solve community problems’. The
study employed qualitative approach (content analysis) and operational
plan reports of higher learning institutions, MOE supervision team reports
including site visits, various meeting presentations were sources of data.
Nine public and three private higher learning institutions were included in
the study selected randomly. Coding and thematic analyses were used to
analyze data as it is a qualitative study. Findings show that higher learning
institutions are at different stages of conceptualizing, formalizing and
implementing community service and engagement activities via developing
institutional policies, strategies or road maps and procedures. In looking
patterns and areas, themes namely continuing education, applied and
community based research, consultancy service, entrepreneurship and
enterprising small businesses, innovation and technology transfer, capacity
building activities, service learning, environmental protection activities and
graduate tracer study were identified to be areas of engagement though
vary from institutions to institutions in scope, scale and type. Also, public
higher learning institutions seem in better practices than private higher
learning institutions in engaging in multidimensional community activities.
Lack of comprehensive research and community engagement institutionalpolicy, internal procedure, sustainability, readiness and attitude of staff and
outcome evaluation were also observed as shortcomings in the majority of
institutions under investigations. Finally, it is learned that, no big problem
that really matters (e.g., poverty, environmental degradation, illiteracy,
hunger, poor schooling, urban crises etc) can be solved and understood
without academics and practitioners working closely together to solve it.
Therefore; successful institution-community partnerships, including
communication about procedures, goals, and priorities; the ability to adapt
to external changes; a vision on both sides for positive change; support from
local leaders; collective efforts should be strengthened so that institutions
and communities can help one another to fulfill their priorities and, above
all, institutions should be guided by developing institutional policy that
dictates pre-mission institutional arrangements or preparations, in mission
coordination strategies and post- mission evaluation instruments. |
